Tyus Jones breaks long-standing franchise record in impressive debut display

The Phoenix Suns began their 2024-25 campaign - a season in which we think they'll go 51-31 - with an impressive overtime win versus the L.A. Clippers on Wednesday night. A contest which took place in the hugely impressive Intuit Dome, and that also saw two Suns' rookies have solid showings.

Point guard Tyus Jones was also making his competitive debut for the franchise - and in the starting position that he was promised - he did not disappoint. The 28-year-old looking exactly like what this group was missing last season as he finished with 11 points and a team-high eight assists in 35 minutes of action.

Jones also collected an impressive record en route to this victory.

Before revealing exactly what that was - and really it is an area Suns fans will be delighted he has impacted already - credit must also be given to Jones for how his introduction appears to have positively helped Bradley Beal. Jones shouldn't get all the love for this of course, the fact Beal is healthy to start the campaign is a massive plus and has helped him find his groove early.

But in finishing with 24 points - and also carrying some of the load offensively after Devin Booker fouled out of the game - Beal looks so much more comfortable playing alongside Jones. This allows him primarily to be a scorer, with the at times elite playmaking happening naturally off the back of that.

If you dare case your mind back to the disjointed experience that was last season, Beal was so concerned about trying to be the point guard that Jones naturally is for this team, that it felt like he was both forcing passes and not taking the looks that he so often stepped into with confidence in his Washington Wizards days.

Returning to the record in question though, and it should come as no surprise that it involves assists-to-turnovers. Jones, as well as backup Monte Morris, have the two best ratios in league history in this area, which goes a long way to explaining why the franchise snapped both of them up when they had the chance to this summer.

But in having eight assists without a single turnover in this one, Jones had the most assists in a debut game for the Suns without committing a turnover since the ABA-NBA merger. What a luxury it is to have a guy who can take care of the basketball like this, while also ensuring his star teammates get the ball in the spots that they want often.

Also interesting here were the 10 shots Jones took on the night, making half of them. This is right in line with last season when he suited up for the lottery bound Wizards, with the 10.1 in 66 games played easily a career high. It was assumed that that number would drop closer to the 7.3 or so that he produced in four seasons as a quality backup for the Memphis Grizzlies.

It is also likely that he'll have nights were he takes only half what he put up against the Clippers, but this is yet another luxury in head coach Mike Budenholzer's offensive system. Having a point guard who primarily wants to get his guys going - but who can also chip in with 11 points if needed or if one of his teammates is having an off night - is a great sign so soon into his tenure in The Valley.

Another positive to take from the performance of Jones was those aforementioned assists, as the most he'd averaged before last season with the Wizards (7.3 in Washington), was 5.2 in his last campaign with the Grizzlies. It looks like he might be about to merge his two performance types from the past together, all while breaking records in game one with the Suns. What a signing already.